The present invention generally relates to packetized digital communications and, more particularly, relates to Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) network telephony and communications in narrowband environments.
Communications networks require sufficient bandwidth over communications links, such as wires, wireless channels, and other segments, in order to efficiently and sufficiently operate. A relatively recent usage of communications networks includes transmission and reception of digitized voice information. For example, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony systems, permitting Internet communication of digitized voice signals, are becoming more widespread and pervasive.
In VoIP operations, analog voice signals are digitized and transmitted as a stream of packets over a digital data communications network, such as the Internet. These systems enable real-time transmission and reception of the voice signals. Various network communications protocols are employed in VoIP operations of these networks, including Transport Control Protocol (TCP), Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and other Internet Protocol (IP) and network protocol suites.
Digitization of voice signals, such as in VoIP systems, generally results in quite substantial volumes of digital information. Communications networks employed in communicating digitized voice signals must, therefore, have sufficiently extensive bandwidth to carry the substantial volumes. Although so-called broadband networks are increasing in popularity, a large number of digital network communications continue to occur over more narrowband channels and networks, such as over twisted-pair telephone wires of the plain old telephone system (POTS) and the like.
Dial-up digital network access, such as with AOL and other providers, typically is considered narrowband in capacity, because of limitations of the physical wires and connections for transmissions and receptions. Even other broadband access connections are capacity-limited, particularly when multiple simultaneous communications are carried over the same lines and links in the systems. Local area and wide area networks of components and devices are generally tied to common gateways and access connections, and these gateways and connections, themselves, have bandwidth limits that can prove restrictive when multiple communications are simultaneously being carried.
The communications capacity limitations of conventional networks and connections, particularly with dial-up access but also with others, are problematic when large volumes of information are sought to be concurrently communicated via the networks and connections. The problems are particularly apparent where VoIP data is communicated, because of the large amounts of data required in the communications. Thus, the operation and availability of VoIP communications capability and usages can be restricted or prohibited in certain systems, particularly those providing narrower bandwidth capacities for the communications.
It would be advantageous in the art and technology to provide new and innovative systems and methods for enabling VoIP and similar large-volume information to be communicated over bandwidth-limited networks. Additionally, it would be a significant advance and improvement to provide relatively simple and inexpensive equipment and mechanisms to further the enabling. The present invention provides systems and methods for VoIP and other types of communications in bandwidth-limited networks, such as with dial-up Internet access and the like. Furthermore, the present invention provides numerous other advantages and improvements in the art and technology.